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Hard Luck
Synopsis Following what happened in The Third Wheel, the book follows Greg Heffley as he finds himself facing a new streak of bad luck. His best friend Rowley has betrayed him for Abigail, and Greg is finding it extremely difficult to find new friends. His mother tells him that friends come and go, but family is forever. Greg, though, believes that he and his family weren't meant to be. Greg thinks that he should have a girlfriend too, and things that he and Rowley like to do are now over. Things like the Five Second Rule and French Fry Fridays cause Rowley and Abigail to move to the Couple's Table, which is mostly empty, now that every couple has been blown apart. Rowley, though, believes Greg is just jealous. And now, Greg needs a friend who can write in cursive-and scout for dog poop. Greg needs a good friend who carries his books. But Rowley is carrying ABIGAIL'S books, so Greg uses a roller bag. He has to avoid Mr. Sandoval and the Mingo Kids, though. His mother tells him that childhood friends don't last long, but Greg wants ONE friend to stay with him to appreciate him when he gets older. But the Slumber Party Pals just tell him guy and girl friendships are just too different to accept. Greg is enrolled to Superhero Training Academy, which is a big lie. Afterwards, different clubs are introduced, all of them trying to make recess the best they can. The game, Girls Chase Boys, and its opponent, Boys Chase Girls, is also shown. Hero Points are also shown, but are crossed out very early, because Erik gets ahold of them, and creates copies for kids to buy. Also, Greg considers buying his science fair project from a bad kid, but the kid gets in trouble and gets detention and summer school. Greg is BLINDSIDED when Mom's family is coming over: Aunt Cakey, who hates children; Aunt Gretchen, who has twins; Aunt Veronica, who only appears online; and Aunt Audra, who is obsessed with fortunes. Everyone goes to Gramma's house for Easter, and then, began searching for Meemaw's Diamond ring once more. 5 Later, Greg breaks his Magic 8 Ball, and finds the ring, which was inside an Easter Egg. Greg and Rowley reconcile, and things are once again gold luck. Or at least until it starts up again, but now, things are no longer Hard Luck. Development Plans for an eighth entry in the series were announced in the final pages of 2012's The Third Wheel. Teaser artwork for the then-unnamed book was released in March 2013, which depicted central character Greg Heffley holding an umbrella while Magic Eight Balls fall around him.6 On August 8, 2013 the book's cover and official title, Hard Luck, was revealed, along with the release date of November 5, 2013.7 Kinney also announced that he would begin a book tour that same month to encourage pre-sales of the book.8 Kinney later stated that he found it challenging to write for one of the book's characters, Rowley's girlfriend Abigail, as she was "meant to be a placeholder for a girlfriend rather than a fully developed character" and that "It was a little tricky trying to figure out how to write for a character that hardly has any dialogue and not much of a personality. She's just a stand-in for a threat to Greg's and Rowley's friendship."9 Reception Booklist gave a positive review for Hard Luck, commenting that "Kinney strikes his comic target in the bull’s-eye, exaggerating the trials of adolescence just enough to make them real while deftly exposing the insecurities behind Greg’s bravado with his super, simple drawings".10 Publishers Weekly wrote that the book's formula was similar to Kinney's prior books and that fans of the series would likely enjoy this one as well.11